“It’s a great day to be 50,” said Maj. Gen. Allen
Batschelet, U.S. Army Recruiting Command commanding general during the command’s
50th anniversary ceremony Oct. 3.

Comparing it to the gold vaulted at Fort Knox, Ky.,
Batschelet said, “USAREC is one of the Army’s most prized treasures –
hardworking teammates who shape the Army by finding the most qualified
Americans to defend the greatest nation the world has ever known.”

Activated Oct. 1, 1964 following the recommendation
of a committee appointed to study recruiting, USAREC has put approximately six
million Soldiers in boots.

Since then
many things have changed about recruiting - some have stayed the same.

In the
early days through 2001, recruiters had to carry a “gorilla bag.” Measuring
about 2-feet long, 21inches wide and 18 inches high, the bag contained every
tool a recruiter needed for prospecting: applications, RPIs, business cards, a
planning guide, extra packets, and a briefcase known as a “Fairchild” that
opened up into a film projector for viewing training films about different MOSs. Fully stocked, it weighed
between 10 and 20 pounds.

Today, all
that information is in a five ounce Smartphone recruiters carry in a pocket.

Retired
USAREC Deputy G3 Frank Shaffrey began his long career with the command as a
recruiter in 1973 when he said applicants literally enlisted on one day and
shipped out 24 hours later.

“We had
shaving kits and comfort packs supplied by the Red Cross for those we shipped
the next day,” said Shaffrey. “They made a phone call home to say goodbye to
their parents or loved ones and then were put on a bus or a flight to a basic
training location.”

The
command gradually transitioned out of the quick ship mode going to a contract
mission that allowed for a more precise, specific MOS planning and quality
placement. Specialty missions became
more and more important as the command started recruiting for Special Forces,
Rangers, Cohesion Operational Readiness Training (COHORT) units, specific language
specialties and more recently for the Foreign Language Recruiting Initiative
(FLRI), and Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI).

USAREC
was on the forefront of developing technologies that became the foundation of
systems used by the command today. The
early legacy systems aimed to become a single source data entry that allowed self-application
for enlistment, and records that could be stored and transferred electronically
to the training base eliminating paper packets, records and forms.

Interfacing
with United States Military Entrance Processing Command’s Integrated Resource
System (MIRS) further expanded the Army’s
ability to import applicant data from national security background checks,
alien registration and prior service records, making the possibility of fraud
minimal.

USAREC started
using electronic background checks before sending applicants to MEPS for
processing. That practically eliminated the need for hard copy police checks,
saving the command valuable time and resources by eliminating applicants early
in the process who’d concealed information.

“We were
the first recruiting service to utilize social media,” said Shaffrey. “We created the Cyber Station, which began the process of on-line
application, interviews and live chat.”

While
recruiters still visit high schools and walk the malls, the days of sending hard
copy mailings to homes with the promise of free T-shirts and tube socks to draw
prospects has been replaced by social media. Apps, Facebook, Twitter and the
internet have created new ways to tell the Army story and communicate with
prospects. Talking on the phone is out, texting is in.

The
slogans have changed several times over the past five decades to include the
popular long running “Be All You Can Be” campaign introduced in October 1980, the
short lived “An Army of One” which debuted in January 2001, and the current
“Army Strong” introduced in 2006.

“As the
command prepares to recruit the best and brightest in an improving economy, we
must position ourselves to successfully reach our shrinking target market,”
said USAREC Command Sgt. Maj. Willie Clemmons. “In the past, our focus was to be
geographically co-located with our targeted demographic. Today, we must
geographically locate them, but co-locate with them virtually and be more
creative in how we present the Army opportunity.”

Studies show generation X shops
based upon testimonials and looks for opportunities in their own space and
time.

“We must meet them in that space
and time,” said Clemmons. “Based upon theses generation’s
preferences, we must move from brick and mortar infrastructures to virtual
infrastructures to build a community of trust through testimonials and
references.”

USAREC’s senior leaders realize
that to reach and relate to the market, the command must transition from
laptops to smart phones and tablets; stop using postcards and letters and move
to e-mail; and decrease filing cabinets
and increase mobile cloud computing and operations.

“The
recruiter of 2020 and beyond will be equipped with mobile “smart” technology
capable of providing real-time and up-to-date information at the point of
engagement with the American populace: focusing on the exact information
needed, at the correct time, accessible from any device, any location, no
matter the operating conditions or environment,” said Clemmons. “This new
approach will enable us to meet them in their own terms to present the Army
opportunity through social media and mobile-based operations.”

Twenty
years ago, it was a much larger Army with larger annual missions. The command’s
marketing approach was to reach the masses as quickly and effectively as
possible. USAREC spent large sums of money on what is known as “carpet bombing,”
placing ads on radio and TV to reach the masses, not specific demographics that
could actually be recruited. The future
approach will be more efficient with limited resources, leveraging heavily on
digital assets and social media, neither of which were available 20 years ago.

But
while many of the tools have changed, some of the fundamentals have not, and
the need for human interaction remains the most necessary part of the
recruiting process.

"Recruiters still need to
shake a hand and ask for a commitment, even if it's virtually," said
Clemmons. "Even though our target market today prefers to communicate
electronically, someone still needs to ask a prospect to enlist, thank them for
their commitment and shake their hand. This creates a bond and a trust that is
necessary when asking someone to commit to serving their country."